r/shutupandtakemymoney • u/Iyellkhan • Oct 23 '24

Analogue is making a new FPGA based N64

https://store.analogue.co/products/analogue-3d-black
91 Upvotes

90% Upvoted

18 comments sorted by

6

u/Wiltron Oct 24 '24

So, legit question, will this re-render the games to be looking better? or is it just blowing up a picture by 10x?

I get it's not going to be next gen graphics of mario kart 64, but will it be better than my actual n64 sitting here?

6

u/xenago Oct 24 '24

It's not gonna render at higher res. It's emulating original hardware

5

u/Wiltron Oct 24 '24 edited Oct 24 '24

So I legit don't understand why it's so good to have this 10x resolution thingy that it's mentioning?

Does it just mean that it fills the screen now?

4

u/xenago Oct 24 '24

Until we get actual screencaps there's no confirmation, but presumably it's like the retrotink 4k - a lower res image scaled up to 4k with filters on top to make it look like a crt

2

u/Iyellkhan Oct 24 '24

its unclear if there will be a hardware upscaler as part of the FPGA or if they are actually rendering graphics at a higher resolution, but if they've optimized a hardware upscaler so that you can run 4 player of a game on a 55" tv without it turning to mush that has some value. Most cheaper upscalers are not ideal to use on modern tvs, though they are often good enough for a lot of people and thats ok too.

personally Im getting one for the day my actual N64 fails. Even buying a decent condition original N64 today can be pushing $200 these days, so $250 now so I can keep playing those games down the road without weird adapters or being stuck emulating on a PC is worth it to me. I think my opinion would be different if it was retailing for say $399 or so.

9

u/antileet Oct 23 '24

Really don't need to see this today. Trying to feed my family and save up for a steam deck and now I have to deal with this?

3

u/IIOrannisII Oct 23 '24

Can't imagine how this would be better than a solid emulator.

6

u/antileet Oct 23 '24

....it's a literal N64 that I can use my actual N64 carts to play with.

2

u/IIOrannisII Oct 23 '24

And a VCR Player can play physical VHS tapes. Doesn't mean the storage method isn't inherently outdated. Nothing about a cartridge game still being on a cartridge makes it better than a virtual ROM.

You don't wanna spend money on a limited physical device to play physical cartridges? Download a virtual emulator and play virtual roms, with probably higher fidelity and more versatile controllers.

I loved classic games growing up, but I'll never go back to a wired poorly designed controller and pay hundreds of dollars to do it in 4k when I can do it all for free in a matter of a few hours.

2

u/Iyellkhan Oct 24 '24

its an FPGA, meaning that you dont deal with any overhead or delays that an emulator may introduce, which will help multiplayer. they also have an x box styled controller that is designed to go with it. It has hall effect joy sticks, so as top of the line as you're going to get.

the hardware is designed to run with higher fidelity than what an emulator will provide. thats kinda the whole point of the device. its meant to feel like the original in every way that matters, with a higher output resolution. The only thing that isnt clear is if its a hardware upscale or if they are rendering the polygons at higher resolution.

that being said, if its not for you its not for you and thats totally ok.

1

u/i_live_in_sweden Oct 24 '24

Neat, curious if it will play from ROMs if you don't have the cartridge?

2

u/adroc Oct 24 '24

You can if you use a n64 everdrive with it.

2

u/zarcommander Oct 24 '24

Hmm, $160

Part of me wants one cause there's the ease and comfort of just pushing a button and booting into a game. No updates, internet, configuration type things.

2

u/adroc Oct 24 '24

I picked one up for that exact reason and am waiting for black friday to buy the everdrive since they usually have a 20% off sale.

1

u/zarcommander Oct 24 '24

Hmm, let me know how it goes. You also getting the controllers?

1

u/Iyellkhan Oct 24 '24

it appears to be able to do roms via its card reader

1

u/Hasuko Oct 23 '24

They are advertising it deceptively, though. "No emulation" is false when it's still hardware vs software emulation - emulation is still present, even if it's hardware.

0

u/mCProgram Oct 28 '24

if you are knowledgeable enough to inherently understand the difference between hardware and software emulation, it’s pretty obviously clear that they are implying no software emulation is used because they’re mainly advertising as a luxury nostalgia item and not as a nerd hardware item. it’s a non issue for anybody thinking about it critically.